Free Republic

In a tense exchange Tuesday with Sen. Rand Paul, longtime NIAID Director Anthony Fauci categorically and repeatedly denied his institute has funded gain-of-function research. A prominent Columbia University virologist claims that in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic a U.S. nonprofit funded coronavirus experiments in Wuhan, China the results of which were used in "gain-of-function" virology research at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Vincent Racaniello made the claim amid ongoing controversy over a recently resurfaced interview between himself and Peter Daszak, the president of the U.S. infectious disease nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance. Both EcoHealth Alliance and the scientist...

Incumbent party chairman reportedly installed after upstart won do-over election. In Fulton County, incumbent chairman Trey Kelly reportedly lost his bid for reelection to newcomer Susan Opraseuth, with Ospraseuth touting her outsider status compared to Kelly's three terms in that role since 2015. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green wrote on Twitter on Thursday that Kelly had actually won an initial election, though she claimed the final tally contained "more votes than voters," after which a second election put Ospraseuth ahead. Yet the Fulton GOP nevertheless "awarded [Kelly] his chairmanship back," Greene claimed, "on appeal of a supposed technicality of words...

In the presumed final count, Biden had originally led in the county by roughly 3,000 votes. Revised totals show that Trump won the county by around 2,500. Addressing the alleged software glitch, Michigan GOP Chairwoman Laura Cox said Friday during a press conference that "47 counties [in Michigan] use this same software in the same capacity." "These counties that use this software need to closely examine their results for similar discrepancies," she said.